Google Cuts “AdWords Fundamentals” Exam Validity Period in Half

March 26, 2015

Having just completed updating our company’s AdWords certification last week by taking the “Search Advertising” exam, we expected to be Google AdWords certified through March 7, 2016. We were surprised to learn when we logged in this morning that we were no longer certified. We had received no notice of this certification suspension, and a brief search on the matter yielded no returns. Even the AdWords blog page and New AdWords features page were lacking information regarding what had happened.

With a little additional digging, we finally discovered the “AdWords Fundamentals” exam that was set to expire on March 7th next year was no longer valid, and needed to be retaken. But this wasn’t the only hidden change, as the exam details portion now reflects a validity period of 12 months.

The Google Partners dashboard now reflects the change by showing a validity period of 12 months rather than the previous 24 months.

We reached out to Google concerning these changes, and a member of their team confirmed the modifications. He then referred us to their updated support page about AdWords certification exams. The “staying certified” section at the bottom of this page reflects the change:

“A passing score on an exam is valid for 12 months after the exam date. To maintain your AdWords certification, you’ll need to have valid passing scores on at least (1) the AdWords Fundamentals exam and (2) one of the other advertising exams (for a total of at least 2 passing exam scores at any given time).”

We’ve since retaken the exam and updated our PPC AdWords certification image on our site, so if you’re looking for an AdWords certified partner, we’re once again a fully authorized option! If you’d like to learn more about our PPC program, you can check out our pay-per-click page, our reach out via the number at the bottom of the page.